About Us
Who We Are
The Mallarmé Chamber Players are a flexible ensemble of professional musicians based in Durham, North Carolina, whose mission is to enrich the lives of the community through outstanding chamber music performance. The ensemble distinguishes itself in the community by its innovative educational programs, its commitment to creative collaboration with other organizations, its creation of significant new work and its dedication to serve a diverse population.
Created in 1984 by musicians Jane Hawkins and Anna Ludwig Wilson working with poet and arts administrator Margaret DeMott, the ensemble’s name comes from Stéphane Mallarmé, the 19th-century French poet and philosopher who believed that true art is created through a unity of music, dance, literature and the visual arts. In keeping with their namesake, Mallarmé performances are often interdisciplinary and have been praised by critics and audiences as innovative, eclectic and of the highest artistic quality.
With the most gifted artists from North Carolina Mallarmé Chamber Players perform programs that include rarely heard works from the traditional chamber music repertoire that celebrate the diversity in our community by featuring the music of African American, Asian, Latino and women composers. Mallarmé has commissioned over 35 new works by American composers. They have created new contours in the landscape of chamber music through partnerships with artists of many different disciplines. Through their eclectic education programs they have developed a new model for community-based arts organizations.
For Mallarmé’s 25th anniversary season in 2008-09, Suzanne Rousso, violist and former orchestra administrator, took the helm as the new artistic director of the ensemble. 2019-20 is Mallarmé’s 36th year!
2019-20 Board of Directors and Staff
Nancy Clapp-Channing, co-chair
Florence Nash, co-chair
Ruth Cox
Kim Demery
Celia Dickerson, treasurer
Michael Fisher
Jeanetta Hopkins
Jacqueline Nappi, secretary
Tony Sprinkle
Baron Tymas
Suzanne Rousso, artistic director, suzanne at mallarmemusic.org
Mickaella Guarascio, operations manager, mickaella at mallarmemusic.org
Featured Artist
Kelly Nivison – Traverso
(La Musique…)
Dr. Kelly Nivison performs with the Durham Symphony on flute and piccolo, performs regularly with the Carolina Philharmonic, and on traverso, she performs with the Raleigh Camerata….
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… Atlanta Baroque Orchestra, North Carolina Baroque Orchestra, and the Catawba River Baroque. She teaches flute, saxophone, and piano privately, and has previously served as the adjunct professor of applied woodwinds at Vincennes University. Kelly has previously performed with Indy Baroque Orchestra’s Ensemble Voltaire, Bourbon Baroque Orchestra, and Owensboro Symphony in addition to several other modern orchestras and ensembles. She currently serves as Artistic Director for Raleigh Camerata, and on the board for the North Carolina Bach Festival. She previously served as the volunteer coordinator and board member for the Bloomington Early Music Festival, and was previously the president of Gamma Ut, the student organization for the Early Music Institute at Indiana University
Dr. Nivison has won the National Flute Association Graduate Research Competition (2018) for her Doctoral thesis “The Flute In Transition,” won second place in the Indianapolis Baroque Orchestra’s Concerto Competition (2014), has been a semi-finalist in the National Flute Association’s Baroque Flute Artist competition four times (2007, 2009, 2012, 2015), and has won the National Flute Association’s Baroque Masterclass Performers competition (2011). Known for her performances, Andrea Luke of CVNC writes that Dr. Nivison is “arguably the most accomplished Baroque flutist in the state, her technique … [is] fluid and infallible.” She has performed for notable period flutists, including Barthold Kuijken, Claire Guimond, Rachel Brown, Sandra Miller, Stephen Schultz, Janet See, Christopher Krueger, and Stephen Preston. Dr. Nivison received her doctorate in Historical Flute Performance at the Early Music Institute at Indiana University where she also completed a minor in music education and modern flute performance. Additionally, Dr. Nivison holds flute performance degrees from Florida State University (M.M) and Appalachian State University (B.M.), a certificate in early music from Florida State University, and a K-12 music education degree from Appalachian State University (B.M.). Her teachers include Barbara Kallaur, Kathryn Lukas, Eva Amsler, and Nancy Schneeloch-Bingham.
Three cats join Kelly in her home in Raleigh, North Carolina. She is an advocate for feline diabetes treatment and knowledge along with giving special needs kitties a chance at life. For fun, Kelly enjoys the outdoors, and has hiked several sections of the Appalachian Trail.
